+ The (not so) Great Power of Consumption

“Everything we consume or use—our homes, their contents, our cars and the roads we travel, the clothes we wear, and the food we eat—requires energy to produce and package, to distribute to shops or front doors, to operate, and then to get rid of.” (World Watch Institute)

When the conversation of global consumption arises, it is not uncommon for America to be the focal point. With a society based on consumerism, its not very hard to understand why we are at the top of the list. Although there has been a dramatic surge of energy consumption in many industrial countries specifically in Asia; ..."the average American consumes five times more energy than the average global citizen, 10 times more than the average Chinese, and nearly 20 times more than the average Indian." Don't let this fool you, these countries are catching up to our consumption rates at an alarming speed. China has become the worlds number one coal and number three oil consumer. The Chinese are working hard to provide their citizens with the wasteful and wonderful ways of American consumption.

The energy required to support these lifestyles holds a high price over our heads. Energy consumption effects everything nationally and globally. It has influences on a nations foreign policies, economy, debt and the environment. It effects our health, our food, our air and water.

Annie Leonard helps us to understand what the true cost of our consumption really is in The Story of Stuff. If everyone in the world consumed as much as Americans, we would need 3-5 planets to support ourselves!! Everything we buy for ourselves, our homes, our pets... has energy in the equation. It takes energy to drive to the store, energy from the gas station to fuel up, energy for the product delivery to the store and energy used to manufacture whatever it is you want to buy (today). The energy cost is enormous, and inevitable: A family can buy a typical new house, and live there for 10 years before the energy they use in it exceeds the energy needed to build it.

“The amount and type of energy we consume is a result of two kinds of choices: those we make as a society and those we make as individuals and families.”(World Watch Institute)

Government policies have a major impact on how we use energy. Countries with higher energy costs, and energy taxes will have lower energy intensive consumption. But we can't depend on our governments to solve all these problems. We as consumers must also make the right moves. The consumer demand has a tremendous impact as well. It is our demand that can push our governments in the right directions. The decisions we make individually and communally will add up and make an impact. You can start by following these Top 10 Principles of Good Consumption